Iford, East Sussex

St Nicholas, Iford

The parish church of St Nicholas is a Norman church and dates from the 12th century, although much restored in the 19th century. It has an unusual arrangement of nave and chancel separated by the tower, possibly formerly at the crossing, though transepts and a north aisle have been demolished. It is a Grade I listed building.[4]

Iford Manor is a neo-gothic house built in 1830 by Henry Burley. It is three storeys with three gables and a tiled roof. It is a Grade II listed building.[5]

Swanborough Manor is also Grade I listed building. It incorporates fabrics which date back to 1200 from the Grange of St Pancras, a dependency of St Pancras Priory, Lewes.[6]

Located to the east of Iford village, Lewes Brooks, known locally as the Vale of the Brooks, works as a flood plain of the River Ouse between Lewes and Southease. The Brooks support a wide diversity of invertebrates, with water beetles (Coleoptera) being particularly well represented. There are also several rare snails (Mollusca), flies (Diptera) and moths (Lepidoptera). The brooks at Iford are less biodiverse than the brooks in the surrounding parishes due to the intensive farming they have sustained in the last fifty years.[10] The Sussex Ouse Valley Way, a track between Lower Beeding in West Sussex and the sea at Seaford in East Sussex, runs along the eastern most boundary of the parish along the west bank of the Ouse and the eastern edge of the brooks.

Track to Swanborough Manor

Swanborough Hill (TQ 390 070) is the northern most peak of the parish and borders Kingston near Lewes. The hill itself was not named after swans. The name came from the Saxon ‘swan’, as in ‘swain’ and so its origin is not the ‘swan’s hill’, but the ‘herdsman’s hill’. It once had a barrow field, including a cluster of small Saxon tumps, but it has been intensively farmed since the war, ploughed and sprayed with agro-chemicals. The tumps and ancient vegetation is now gone. In summer, now, the ragwort has taken hold, sometimes in dense patches.[9]

Between Swanborough and Front Hill is Iford Hill. The slopes of Iford Hill are part of a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest. The north west is in good condition and the calcareous grassland supports a good variety of species. However surveys have indicated that the east side has scrub encroachment with uniform gorse and a lot of ragwort.[11]

Front Hill is to the southern most peak of the parish and borders Southease. The south slopes of Front Hill (TQ 402 056) has retained a Down pasture. Unfortunately, it lies one thousand metres to the south of the South Downs Way and so this area of natural beauty is missed by the majority of walkers. However, it is sun-soaked and south facing Access land and in July the turf can be spangled pyramidal orchids, rampion and harebells. The two parts of the site are grazed and well-managed although the unremitting grazing of the northern half does not allow for flower displays.[9]

Hawthorn bush, Home Bottom

Behind the peaks of Front, Iford and Southease Hill the parish continues west. There are three valleys, Home Bottom, Long Bottom and Whiteway Bottom. From the slopes of Long Bottom (TQ 389 060) southwards you look across long ripples of hills, like the sea, and the cliffs of Seaford Head is where the view ends. There are tumps that could be barrows. The area can support bee and spotted orchids some years with sky blue chalk milkwort and rockrose with adonis blue butterfly and yellow belle moth.[9]

A path climbs up Whiteway Bottom to Pickers Hill and on the top there was a barrow field. It is ploughed out now. When the sun is low you can see bold prehistoric field lynchets at the head of the Whiteway combe (TQ 391 052), and back towards Highdole in the Rodmell parish, as well as up the dean around Long Bottom. The south slope of Whiteway Bottom (TQ 396 054) is a tranquil old Down pasture site. It was damaged by agro-chemicals at its western end, but the middle and eastern end is intact, with lots of butterflies, including small heath, chalkhill blue, common blue and marbled white, and lots of old Down pasture herbs.[9]

Whiteway Bottom turns up the dean, where it used to be called Isenden, and splits into three combes. The first of these used to be called Short Bottom and is now Killal (TQ 390 057). There are cowslips and devil's-bit flower and common blue buterflies. A little copse has been planted and there are boney lynchets. It was a neglected place, but now it is grazed and well-managed.[9]

A path from Balsdean and Whiteway Bottom runs up from the south to Pickers Hill. From Southease Hill, to the northwest, a ridge track takes you on to the Hill too. There is public footpath that runs southwest along the Pickers Hill ridge. On either side of you are seemingly endless agricultural fields, but to the south are views of the sea.

Farm buildings in Balsdean Bottom

Above Balsdean Bottom (TQ 385 065) there is a game bird release pen on the northwest end. They breed the now rare grey partridge which makes its more acceptable to walkers. Its slopes were ploughed during the 20th century and received agrochemicals unlike the treasured and protected valleys at Castle Hill, which lie to the west of Balsdean. Gladly, there are signs of a change as new agro-environmental support systems kick in.[9]

The valleyside east of Balsdean (TQ 382 058), has a scallop-shaped site on its steepest part which retains its aboriginal vegetation, but it has had no grazing for many years and so has become overgrown with tor grass and encroaching thorn. Below its lower fence line, a fragment of old turf is well-grazed by a Brighton tenant farmer. Where the sheep can go, the flowers follow and horseshoe vetch, fragrant and spotted orchids and powder-blue chalk milkwort thrive here.[9]